As South Korean students across the country honed their academic skills in the final preparation for this year’s “Suneung” college entrance exam Wednesday, the authorities also prepared to support the youngsters for what many still consider to be a “life-deciding” test.The exam has been held in Korea on the second Thursday of November annually since 1993. Although the college admission also includes interviews and essays, getting a top grade on the nine-level curved grading system is essential f

Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson received an honorary doctorate from Kookmin University on Monday during his visit to South Korea this week.“We highly praise President Grimsson’s accomplishments as a politician and in preserving the global environment and contributing to international peace, and therefore decided to give him the honorary doctorate degree on the occasion of his first visit,” said Kookmin University President Yu Ji-soo. Grimsson also delivered a special lecture for the uni

Seoul City plans to provide students in middle and high schools with books that chronicle the names of those who sympathized with imperial Japan during its colonial rule of Korea, stoking opposition from the conservatives who claim it is a move to thwart the government’s reinstatement of state-authored history textbooks.　Kim Moon-soo, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, said Monday that the Seoul Metropolitan Education Office would distribute the “Register of Sympathizers of Imperial Jap

 Last Friday, Choi Mong-lyong -- the government’s choice as one of the main authors for a new set of state-issued history textbooks -- resigned after allegations surfaced that he had sexual harassed a female reporter.While denying any wrongdoing, the professor emeritus of Seoul National University said he did not want to bog down the publication process.Professor Choi Mong-lyong is surrounded by the press as he heads to his home in Yeouido, Friday. (Yonhap)The resignation of the seasoned scholar

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn announced Tuesday that South Korea would officially reinstate government-issued history textbooks for secondary education from 2017, saying that the current system had failed after four years of implementation.“It is realistically impossible to author a correct history textbook under the current system. It is the government’s conclusion that the privately-authored system has failed,” Hwang said during a joint press conference with Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea at

A prominent U.S. expert on Korean history bashed the Seoul government’s plan to reinstate government-issued history textbooks, raising concerns that President Park Geun-hye is attempting to unify viewpoints on history.Calling the plan “unworkable, retrograde and stupid,” Bruce Cumings, a University of Chicago professor specializing in modern Korean and international history, said it was a reminder of her father, who ruled the country with an iron fist in the 1960s and ’70s. He said the plan also

Prime Minster Hwang Kyo-ahn announced Tuesday that South Korea would officially reinstate government-issued history textbooks for secondary education, saying that the current private publication system had failed after four years into implementation.Prime Minster Hwang Kyo-ahn (Yonhap)“It is realistically impossible to author a correct history textbook under the current system. It is the government’s conclusion that the privately-authored system has failed,” Hwang said during a briefing at the S

The government said Monday it would expedite the schedule to confirm reinstatement of government-issued history textbooks from Thursday to Tuesday, prompting a flurry of protests with the main opposition party vowing a boycott of parliamentary sessions. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea will hold a briefing at Seoul Government Complex at 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, where the government will confirm the policy to revise the publicatio

Industry Awards/ EducationChadwick InternationalSomeone told me to find three reasons to say “thanks” while you walk from your bed to the bathroom every morning for a healthier and happier life. It was a struggle at first, but I can now easily find three things that I’m thankful for. Just as I practice my three reasons on “why” I am thankful, I realized our students at Chadwick International find various ways to define their “why” when they come to school each day and explore.Helen Lee, Director

With South Korea plunging deeper into the dispute over state-controlled history lessons, the ruling Saenuri Party on Thursday attempted to throw North Korea into the mix by suggesting that opponents of the policy may be under orders from the communist country.Rep. Suh Chung-won, a senior Saenuri lawmaker from the pro-President Park Geun-hye faction, suggested that the recent criticism issued by Pyongyang on Seoul’s plan to reinstate state-authored history textbooks for secondary education was a

Opposition lawmakers staged an overnight standoff with Education Ministry staff outside the government office that deals with the publication of school history textbooks Sunday, alleging that the staff have been secretly working on state-authored textbooks under direct orders from the presidential office.Lawmakers of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy visited the National Institute for International Education late Sunday on an anonymous tip-off that the ministry was operatin